Happy October!!!

What time of year is more delightful than autumn?  Although autumn officially begins in late September, there's just something about the first day of October that is magical in a way.  I've seen many friends posting on their blogs about the joys of this time of year ... the colored leaves, the cool crisp air, pumpkins, hot meals, & snuggling into a comfy chair, covering yourself with a warm throw & sipping a hot cup of tea while reading a good book.  The phrase "it can't get any better than this" surely seems to fit   : )

I am especially happy that October has arrived.  The prior 12 months have been rather roller coastery (there's a new word for you) as far as health concerns around here.  Last October I was told that it was pretty certain that I had uterine cancer.  I was sent to the hospital for a total hysterectomy.  Thankfully no cancer was found.  In early February I began having urinary problems.  An intense look of concern came over the face of the urologist with whom I had made an appointment.  Based on my symptoms, along with the fact that my father had had bladder cancer, he felt sure that I had either bladder cancer or a tumor in my urinary tract.  Various testing followed & again no cancer was found.  In mid-March I had my yearly checkup with my doctor in Tennessee.  More suspicion of cancer ... this time breast cancer & thyroid cancer.  Testing once again revealed no cancer.  To be perfectly honest I thought 5 "you might have cancer" diagnoses were a bit much in a period of 6 months.  I thought surely the doctors/hospitals in this area of the country must have been trying to get some much-coveted cancer funds which were only distributed based on the amount of cancer diagnoses they reported.  My husband & I began to make jokes about it.  If one of us had a headache, the other one would say "Must be brain cancer."  If one of us had a stomachache, the other one would say "Must be stomach cancer."

In late May both my husband & myself began to not feel well.  The usual symptoms of his health issues began to increase.  As for me, I just plain felt terrible ... sleeping all the time, no energy, & a host of other problems.  Saw a new doctor who did a vast series of  tests & then told me my previous doctor had been over-medicating me & if I continued taking the dosages she had prescribed then I would be in big trouble health-wise not too long from now.  She had me stop taking some things I had been taking, prescribed some others for me, & it took the entire summer but I finally started feeling better just in the past couple of weeks or so.  Meanwhile my husband began to feel worse, developing 2 new symptoms & you know what happened to him per my recent posts.  Although he was not sent for one very important test which he should have been sent for, he has been feeling good the past 2 days.  No more problems like those that put him in the hospital.  Hallelujah!

So hooray for the end of one year & the beginning of a new one!  I am looking forward to the next 12 months being as happy & joyful & free of health issues just as much as the last 12 months have been just the opposite   : )